Not Much to Offer
by Loveedith
Summary: The beginning of Bertie's love for Edith.
1. Mother

What your heart is full of your mouth talks about.

After being invited to the shooting and dinner at Brancaster by the people who had rented it, Bertie couldn't stop talking about it.

Or rather - he couldn't stop talking about Lady Edith Crawley.

...

The first week or so, after they had met at Brancaster, Bertie was trying to build up enough courage to call Lady Edith and ask her out. He was going to London in a month, and if he was lucky she would be there at the same time. But he didn't know what to say to her on the phone, he'd better rehearse it or he risked getting tongue-tied.

But what could he say? "I'm Bertie Pelham. We met at Brancaster. Can I ask you out for a drink?" That wouldn't sound important enough even to make a phone-call about.

But if he asked her out for dinner she would probably not accept.

So what could he say to her? He couldn't very well tell her that he was thinking about her all the time. Every moment since he last saw her.

He wasn't even certain that she would remember him.

...

Bertie's mother listened to him with a great deal of amusement when he visited her some days later. He was going on and on about Lady Edith.

She had never seen her son so enthusiastic about a woman before. It was obvious that he had fallen in love. Although he didn't seem to be fully aware of that himself.

But Bertie's mother felt she had to warn him, or else he would be in for a big disappointment. It seemed that he was aiming far too high. An Earl's daughter who was also the owner of a magazine - how could a woman like that ever be happy living with Bertie in his cottage at Brancaster?

Lady Edith had probably enjoyed Bertie's company that day. But that was all there was to it, in his mother's opinion. The lady had most likely forgotten all about Bertie Pelham as soon as he was out of sight.

...

So, after listening to Bertie's Lady Edith this and Lady Edith that for almost an hour, his mother put in a small warning.

"Bertie, please", she said. "I don't want to put a damper on things, and you are obviously very fond of this Lady Edith. But she is an Earl's daughter. I don't want you to be hurt. Just remember that you don't have much to offer. Not to a woman like that."

Bertie just looked at his mother. She was right, of course. He didn't have much to offer Edith. He knew that, that was probably the reason that it was so difficult for him to contact her.

Edith had treated him as an equal when they were together at Brancaster. But he knew perfectly well that he wasn't one.

...

After that Bertie never managed to get over his mother's comment. So he had never dared to make that phone call.

It was lucky that he bumped into Edith in London half a year later.

* * *

AN:Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!


	2. Edith

"You have a great deal to offer and I am not sure I'm worthy of it."

That was what Edith said when Bertie told her that he didn't have much to offer.

...

This was after he had happened to meet Edith again in London and invited her to a drink that she had accepted. And after he helped her with her magazine through the night and realized that he loved her.

And after that... he knew he had to be with her. She could refuse him, of course, and that would be painful, but he would never forgive himself if he hadn't even tried.

He wanted to be with Edith. Every minute of every day.

So he had written her a letter, telling her when he would be in London next, asking if she could spend some time with him there. He had offered to meet her for a coffee and a walk in the park.

And she had written back, telling him she would love that.

Afterwards, when he was in her apartment and helped her put on her cape, he couldn't stop himself from kissing her. Even though he feared that he was pushing his luck.

It was after that kiss that he had said that he didn't have much to offer. And she had answered:"You have a great deal to offer and I am not sure I'm worthy of it."

So mother had been wrong! He wasn't aiming too high!

He had been so happy when he heard Edith say those words that he really hadn't taken in the last part of it. Not worthy? Off course she was!

* * *

AN: Thank you for reading! And thank you for the kind comments to last chapter!

...

I was really thinking of given up writing fanfiction. But it seems like I am the last one writing about Edith and Bertie, so...


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